Ask the Flying Monkey! (September 7, 2009)

Q: Do you know if any of the contestants on Survivor: Samoa are going to be GLBT? I just checked out their profiles and at least three of the guys list things like "womanizer", "never been rejected", and "a woman's dream." Is CBS trying to overly heteroize the show that has been strategically won by at least two openly gay men (Todd and Hatch)? – Topher, Toronto, Canada

A: There are no gay male contestants that we know of (although it’s always possible someone hasn’t yet come out to the network).

Is CBS trying to “heteroize” the show? Although I love your coining of a new term, I’d strenuously argue that they’re not. In fact, we recently talked with Jeff Probst, and I’m convinced he doesn’t see the show in those terms at all.

“When you look at the long-term of the show, you hopefully have some diversity,” he tells AfterElton.com. “But the truth is, the majority of people who apply are white, number one, and number two, they’re straight. We’ve had this conversation so many times with our casting team. They say, ‘This is who applies.’ It’s our job to do as much of a cross-section as we can, but you can’t put people on the show who don’t want to do it.”

Jeff Probst

Speaking of gays on Survivor, does Jeff think being out is a disadvantage? “Any reason you give to vote people out is a handicap, and in our world today, being gay is a reason for many people to vote you out. You saw that with Spencer.”

That said, Jeff says, a gay guy can obviously hold his own. “Todd and Richard, not only did they win, they dominated their seasons.”

Gay Survivor winners, Todd Herzog (left) and Richard Hatch

Q: Have you seen the new Mika video for “We are Golden”? I love it because of the slight Billy Elliot feel it has. But really my question is where did he get those gold shoes? – Ashley, Torrance, CA

A: Great song – and fantastic video! Mika says those shots of him in his bedroom as a teenager dancing in his underwear are an homage to all the hours he says he spent doing just that.

But what of his shoes?

Like Amy Winehouse’s beehive, Mika’s tennis shoes are something of a trademark. He’s actually wearing a number of different shoes in the video – one pair of green, one pair of silver, one pair of white and gold, one pair of gold, and a pair of his trademark white ones. It seems to me they’re sort of a jokey nod to his future success and on-stage flamboyance.

I don’t know the manufacturer, but think your best bet is your own favorite pair of tennis shoes with a can of sparkly gold spray paint.

But man that’s a great video. I mean, have we not all been there?

Next page! Nick Rodriguez's roots, and Monkey's debt to Streisand.